City drops contempt motion against Dudley Mansion owners

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) -- The owner of the Dudley Mansion was scheduled for court today, but the City of Wilmington has reconsidered a motion claiming the owner was in contempt of court. The city claimed the owners of were not following court orders, which wouldn't let them advertise the home for weddings anymore. The advertising on the mansion web page is no longer up and so the city has withdrawn their motion.

"The motion was withdrawn last week, and it was withdrawn because the city felt that they did come into compliance as far as removing the advertising from the website which was the issue here," Wilmington city spokesperson Malissa Talbert said.

But there are still other issues. Back in July mansion owner Ronald Pickett was in court. The city claimed Pickett and his wife were violating city ordinance by running their home as a business in a residential area. A judge told the Picketts they could hold the scheduled weddings, but they would have to stop advertising and booking the home until the matter was fully resolved. So, when will that happen?

"Certainly the city would like to resolve this issue as quickly as possible," Talbert said. "The court again has ruled that there will be a full trial to resolve this issue permanently unless the parties involve can come to some type of agreement."

We attempted to contact the Picketts, but could not reach them at the home. As for their next court date, that still has not been decided.

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